Google is reportedly designing its own Android phone this year

The Telegraph's sources say that Google is gearing up to design and manufacture a smartphone on its own for release by the end of 2016. At the end of April, Google set up its own hardware division and appointed former Motorola president Rick Osterloh to run it. The idea was to bring the company’s various gadget projects under a single umbrella. Now, The Telegraph’s sources say that Google is gearing up to design and manufacture a smartphone on its own – representing a major shift from its standard strategy of partnering with major handset makers like LG, Huawei and HTC to develop Nexus devices that showcase the Android platform.